Of Lunar Luminosity
by punainenpuolukka
Summary: As the world was created, its wardens, The Sun and The Moon, were born from the emptiness of space. One-shot AU, KuroFay.


Title: Of Lunar Luminosity, or in other words, why The Moon doesn't really shine

Rating: PG-13

Characters: The Sun (Kurogane), The Moon (Fay), Fei-Wang Reed, The Time Deity (Yuuko)

Disclaimer: I don't own the sun or the moon or, well, anything else either.

Summary: "As the world was created, its wardens, The Sun and The Moon, were born from the emptiness of space." One-shot AU, KuroFay.

Warnings: Well, there's technically a boyxboy pairing. And I'm still a novice in these kinds of things. 

As the world was created, its wardens, The Sun and The Moon, were born from the emptiness of space. They took their place in the sky so they could do their work, shine light to Earth.

The Sun was bigger and stronger of the two. He was proud of his position as the greatest orb in the sky. He heated the air with his rays and thus gave warmth to Earth. For that the people living on the small planet associated him with day and light, but most importantly, life. With The Sun's power the people could cultivate crops and grow vegetables. He gave life to forest and the animals which were also mankind's source of food. No life could exist without him.

But apart from his abilities as the nurturer of life, he could also be ruthless. He burned those who tried to reach him, those who did not appreciate the protection and warmth he gave. This depiction also suited his human form; his fierce red eyes were like the scorching rays he emitted, and his ebony hair and tanned skin gave him a look of a warrior forged in the midst of battle. Perhaps this was the reason his fearsome presence was most unwelcoming, it was an admonition; those, who come far too near the sun, will burn and die, like Icarus.

The Moon, on the other hand, was nothing like The Sun. He hid most of his time in shadows and showed only his bright side to the people living on Earth. The dark side he hid so carefully that no one knew what it looked like. And the light he shone to Earth was cold opposing the everlasting heat The Sun offered. This fitted well the ivory skin and golden blonde locks of his human appearance. His alluring blue eyes were far more beautiful than any mortal could ever possess.

But The Moon also had another secret besides his dark side. Soon after their creation he had fallen in love with The Sun. He even spied the other one during the day if he felt lonely and desperate for attention. The Moon lied and cheated to keep his secrets to himself. A smile that hid the lies within was radiant on his lips but did not reach his eyes; the façade he held was easy to break, at least by The Sun.

Once, while The Sun was at work during the day, he noticed The Moon lurking behind the corner of their Heavenly Palace, their home and workplace, spying him. Well, stalking would be more accurate term but it is less disturbing to say that The Moon was merely spying him. The day-time guardian furrowed his brows and wrinkled his forehead. He pondered the other's motives but he decided to ignore him.

But then it became more frequent. He would catch The Moon lurking behind him when the he thought The Sun hadn't seen him. And whenever it was clearly obvious that he had been caught from spying, he just smiled, waved to the hotheaded warden, and fled from the scene.

Eventually The Sun lost his temper. During the next equinox, for then their duties lasted equally long time, he hunted down The Moon dragging him across the palace floor to a place where the other could not run away, and confronted him about his suspicious behavior.

"What the hell are you trying to achieve by stalking me, idiot? Don't you have better things to do, like resting before your duties?" the solar orb yelled infuriated.

"Stalking? I think I'm merely spying on you. Or admiring your marvelous work if you wish. You're always so diligent, working hard every day." The night-time warden smiled mischievously and tried to escape from the other, but all attempts in vain. The Sun slammed him against the wall, quite painfully in fact, and growled in low voice.

"And you are not. Humans have started to doubt your aid and wonder why are seen during the day."

"Well, they do not seem to need my aid at all. They seem to be quite content with the help you give them. And during my free time I'm allowed to do as I wish, and so are you if have not forgotten that," The Moon gave a smile that did not seem to reach his beautiful blue eyes. Something was on his mind, The Sun could sense it but again, against his better knowledge, ignored it.

"Fine, you're allowed to do as you see best, but you need to leave me be and do my work even if you would not do yours."

"Yes sir, Mr. Sun-tan," the paler orb mockingly saluted the other and made his escape as The Sun finally had turned his back to him. When radiant warmth of The Sun was far away from him, his phony smile slipped from his lips and he sunk back to his own gloomy darkness. 

The nights The Moon kept wallowing in his self-pity, contemplating his lack of courage to voice his feelings, like he had done for such an indefinitely long time that an ordinary human being would never be able to process it nor withstand the emotional agony the warden of the night felt. An eternal life, spent sole coupled with a task that will see no end, was not suiting for everyone, least to The Moon. The Sun had never shown any signs of feeling the burden far too heavy for him nor indication of exhaustion.

And for a very, very long time things continued as they were, until destiny decided to interfere. 

A man clad in long dark robes walked hurriedly in the midst of a forest, trying to reach the clearing before the moon rose. As he reached his destined place, a wicked smile crept to his lips.

"Soon I shall attain the powers no mortal had had ever before or shall have ever again! I will conquer the worlds beyond and triumph over my rivals. Even my past mentor," he thought to himself.

"Do you hear me, o Master of the night? Do you answer my call, o Moon?" the magician yelled into the night.

"What is it that you seek me for?" the gentle voice of The Moon echoed in the night.

"I'd rather discuss my matters with you face to face."

"If that is what you wish," the lunar orb said and appeared as of nowhere in front of the other's eyes. The unearthly silvery luminosity radiated from him illuminating the forest around with such a peculiar light that could only come from the sky.

"I am known as the magician Fei-Wang Reed. I'm here to offer you a transaction that will profit us both," the man said cunningly, though simultaneously keeping his most sincere façade.

"What is it that you, a mere mortal, though a master of the arts that are unknown for so many humans, can offer me?" The Moon asked warily but was still quite intrigued by the man's words.

"I am most willing to help you to become The Second Sun."

"The Second Sun? I do not see what is wrong with the current Sun. He does his work diligently, never failing to rise in the morning, or set when it is his time to rest. What good would another Sun do?"

"Aah, but you see, another Sun would not entirely replace the current one, but merely give you both more time to rest, as you would shine in shifts, the current Sun one day and you on another," Reed attempted to persuade the warden to do his bidding.

"But I still don't see what benefits your proposal has. I'm certain he won't be pleased to share his position. Not at least with me," The Moon said quietly. A sad smile crept to his lips as he thought of The Sun. His chest started ache painfully and a lump rose to his throat. That had happened quite a lot recently. To him, it seems, there was nothing more painful than unrequited love.

What was the emotion Reed detected in the lunar orb? Jealousy? Probably not. Love? Perhaps. To him it seemed that The Moon thirsted attention and companionship from The Sun but was not able to attain it for some reason. Maybe the solar orb detested those kinds of irrelevant emotions, unnecessary for the immortal. Or perchance it could be that he had yet to realize the pure admiration the other warden felt for him.

Seeing his original plan did not work, the cunning Reed began to ponder what he could do. Power was something The Moon did not desire, unlike Reed himself. The feeling of being loved by someone was something the celestial warden of night wished more than anything else, like a foolish human maiden. And the object of his desire was no other than the brightest orb in the sky.

"Or is the attention of Master of the day far more momentous to you than its dominion?" the magician slyer than a serpent connoted quietly. He hummed rather pleased at himself as he saw the reddening of The Moon's pale cheeks.

"My affairs of love, and well, everything else as well, are mine alone and no business of a mortal, no matter how endowed he is with the unknown arts," the immortal warden answered meekly. "And if you have no need for my services, I shall take my leave."

"Wait, at least give me the opportunity to show my gratitude for you having the time to meet me, even if we did not come to a mutual agreement. I know you are very engaged to your work." The magician had to think fast if he wished to fulfill his original plan.

"And what could that be?"

The moonlight vanished and an unnatural darkness fell upon the earth. The lunar orb felt like death had swallowed him whole even though for an immortal it was not possible. There was no sign of the cold flickering glow close to the place where a human's heart would reside; now the place was replaced by an empty hole. The gleam surrounding the blonde was gone. The Moon's light was gone. 

"Where the hell are you? And what on earth have you done?" The Sun had never been this enraged before. The idiot had not shone upon the earth for days, and the humans living there were beginning to panic; they've started to pray for knowledge to see the truth behind the bizarre phenomenon.

The nights lacking the moon had its consequences; the waters had seized to flow according to tidal rhythm disturbing fishermen's ships and farmers watering works. If this continued for long, humans would began suffer from starvation. And above all, the humans did not dare to move about from their homes after the sun had set, and those who did, were either mugged, robbed, beaten or even worse. An eerie terror had filled their hearts in the nighttime. If the situation didn't turn for the better soon, their lives would change permanently.

As if things could not be any worse than they already were, the summer was slowly but steadily changing into autumn and the time of light was becoming shorter by the day. When winter would come, the scarce rays of light would be even rarer as they were on a normal wintry day, but now without the moon, the darkest time of the year would truly be gloomier than ever before. Some areas could even be completely lightless for days.

The Sun proceeded his search infuriated, cussing The Moon with every word he knew, not even caring if the other heard him or not; each foul word escaping his mouth had a purpose, and they were all insults the pale warden would deserve for leaving his post unattended for so long.

But he could not be as careless as the other had been, avoiding his daily duties. As a time of crisis, the celestial guardian of the day had to do his work as dutifully as ever, like nothing was wrong to begin with; if he discarded his chores, the humans would surely start to panic even more than they already did and the planet would without a doubt fall into chaos. Not to mention everything and everyone would die as soon as The Sun's rays did not reach the earth's surface. 

Days were slowly beginning to turn into weeks, but The Sun had yet to find his celestial companion. The pursuit had taken him to every known corner of the world, he had ransacked the Heavenly Palace for three times with no results, and he had even tried to ask the Time Deity, mistress of time and space, for help, and she offered her aid with a pleased, cunning smile. Though for the price of her assistance she required half of The Sun's rays, and so the dark-haired orb, wisely, declined.

But he was a lot wiser than he looked, perhaps since the look of a warrior does not actually depict massive brain capacity, and knew for sure The Moon could not stay hidden for long. The other could move swiftly, softly, in silence, but the reason for his absence was his mere play of hide-and-seek; he could not be nowhere, so he must have changed his hideout before The Sun found him, but his luck would soon run out, the solar orb mused to himself. And he was right. 

As he had laid himself to rest, laying in his bedchamber, tired of his work and the moon-hunt, he heard a quiet noise coming from the corridor, just outside his room. He stood up soundlessly, creeping towards the door. No other than the wardens could step into the Heavenly Palace, without being invited, at least. Now was his chance, now he would confront his companion.

As he opened the door, he saw the deep, blue eyes, but the glow that had once surrounded those eyes and that body was gone.

"I- I-," The Moon stuttered. As The Sun looked at him a bit closer, he noticed that the other's hair was in disorder and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.

"Where the hell have you been this whole time? Do you realize what you've done?" the darker guardian took a hold of the other's shoulders and almost shook him but decided against it.

"Something happened. And I didn't know what to do. I was- I was-"

"Hiding?"

"Well, yes." He sounded ashamed and looking defeated and tired.

The Sun felt a wave of compassion and shifted his palms from The Moon's shoulders to his hands. With such tenderness and care which he had not shown ever before, he held the other's hand and took him into his bedchamber and sat with him to his bed.

"What happened?" the solar orb asked worried about his companion.

"My light, my powers, are all gone. Most of it at least. I must have still some of it left; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to enter this place," the paler one answered inaudibly and continued, "A magician has them now."

"You gave your light to a mortal? What on earth were you thinking?" The Sun swore loudly.

"Well, I wasn't. It was more like an accident, really. He just, he just took it after I had agreed to meet him." The Moon sounded dreadfully sheepish and his eyes avoided the others gaze.

"Took it?" the other inquired raising his eyebrows.

"Yes."

"By force?"

"Sort of." The lunar orb was dying of shame agonizingly slow; he could scarcely bare the other's presence.

"I see." An awkward silence fell between them.

"Do you realize what you've done?" the darker warden demanded bluntly.

"Well, I'm not you. If it were you who lost your light, the crops would be destroyed, there would be no light or warmth and people would soon perish."

"Exactly, but I'm not like you and you're not me."

"See, so no harm done, right," The Moon attempted once again to flee but with no luck. The other took a hold of his arm; the grip was warm and was radiated by the clear need to protect, but it was also a most tight grip, not one that could be escaped with ease.

"What about the tidal rhythm? What about the people whose livelihood depends on it? Do you even realize how dark it is during nighttime? The winter is coming soon, how dark do you think it'd be then? People are already too scared to go about outside at nights, what do you think what it's like when the days are as avoid of light as days," The Sun demanded answers from his fellow orb. The grip on the other's arm tightened but did not reach the level where it would have been uncomfortably painful.

"I – I," the blonde stuttered feeling his general ability to construct comprehensive sentences slowly fade away once more, and the only thing he could do was to cast his eyes away from the other's down to his knees. Those piercing red eyes were truly a frightening sight, no matter how the pure animosity had vanished bit by bit. The anger was replaced by something The Moon could not quite put his finger on. Or perhaps he could but did not dare to hope for it.

"What am I going to do with you?" the warden of the day asked aloud not expecting the blonde to respond. He lifted the down casted chin lightly with his fingers, which soon traced to the lunar orb's soft wavy hair and brushed some loose strands away from the other's eyes.

"We should go to sleep, I'll think of something tomorrow," he continued softly.

The Moon closed his eyes, and very soon he was fast asleep, not knowing that The Sun was forming a plan in his mind. He stood up, leaving the paler one, who already slept in his bed like it was his own, and crept outside the chamber, outside the Heavenly Palace, setting his destination to the lady deity he had seen not long before the lunar orb decided to make his reappearance. 

"Why do seek my aid at this time of night? Don't you need your rest before it is day again? Or am I important enough for you to abandon your duties you have never discarded before?" The Time Deity smiled deviously and sipped some of the liquid, which the solar orb assumed to be ambrosia, from a tall, golden brimmed glass.

"He came back."

"The Moon, I presume," she said lazily, but knowingly. She probably knew the other had come back but played with his mind for her amusement.

"He lost his light."

"And know you wish him to have it back? I'm afraid that when his light is gone, it's really gone."

"But the earth is as of now in a semi-chaotic state. This can't last for long as it is," he tried to persuade the deity to assist him.

"But that is not all, is it?" she once again stated like she knew the answer beforehand. And she most likely did. She took a sip from her glass once more and continued, "His light is as important to you than it is to him. That is what makes him who he is, likewise your light makes you who you are."

The Sun did not answer. He merely stared at her expecting her to carry on.

"I cannot be any assistance to him, but perhaps you can. If you truly care for him, you should be able to shine for him, so to speak."

"What?" He did not quite understand what she meant.

"You know what I mean. But you must hurry, the day will soon come, and you're not there to do your job, you slacker." She smiled and sent the orb away.

The Moon rose from the other's bed and looked around. He did not feel tired anymore but there was something else as well. The hole in his chest wasn't there anymore; it was filled with light again. But it wasn't the same light that had been there. It was warmer and softer, and he felt awfully happy. The Sun was not there with him in body, but in his heart the other resided peacefully for all eternity.

"I heard the magician has died," The Moon said softly caressing gently the others hand resting in his lap.

"Hn."

"He was burned to death," he continued nonchalantly. The Sun stayed silent but looked like he was listening to the other's every word patiently.

"Or more like scorched. A very painful death, it was," the blonde added like it was a casual conversation between two people.

"Your point being?" the darker one asked irritated and flinched slightly but did not pull his hand away from the other's lap. The Moon appreciated the act far more than the he could ever know.

"Do you happen to know anything about that, perhaps?" he inquired smiling slightly,

"No."

"That's good then," the lunar orb squeezed The Sun's hand gently

The silence laid still between them. No words were needed as everything was understood. Sometimes, you see, it's not necessary to say something that is already known. 

A/N Again something I actually did for school since I had a Literature and Writing course, which was by the way the best course ever. Oh, it was so fun to write this one but now I don't really have time to write more as I have to read for my university entrance exams. Maybe in autumn I would have enough time to consider writing some more since then I, hopefully, have place in one of universities I applied to. Or I could be cleaning hotel rooms in Switzerland, which is far better than going to that housewife school my mother keeps threatening me with.


End file.
